MotoGP Jerez Test: Casey Stoner ruled out of Jerez test

MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner has been ruled out of the final day of testing in Jerez tomorrow after injuring his left shoulder in a massive high-side crash this afternoon.

Stoner high-sided his new 2008 factory Ducati at Turn Three on his first flying lap while testing a new Bridgestone rear tyre.

Without any warning, Stoner lost rear grip and was flown into the air.
The Australian landed heavily on his left shoulder and although he was able to walk away from the crash, he needed lengthy treatment on the shoulder in the circuit medical centre.

Doctors revealed he had suffered no broken bones but Stoner did damage ligaments in the left shoulder, and his Marlboro Ducati boss Livio Suppo has confirmed to MCN in Jerez that he won’t ride again tomorrow.

Stoner was taken back to his hotel next to the Jerez circuit shortly before 4pm this afternoon with heavy strapping on the shoulder  that doubled as a sling, and he must keep an ice pack on the damaged area for a few hours.

Stoner had crashed yesterday on his first appearance on the new GP8, losing the front at 120mph in Turn 11. He’d damaged his right shoulder in that crash, and with the left now injured too, Stoner will fly back to Australia at the earliest opportunity to get further scans on the left shoulder.

He is due to attend a Ducati world championship-winning celebration party though this weekend in Bologna, and could have to wait to fly home until early next week.
Suppo told MCN: “He has damaged some ligaments in the left shoulder. Nothing is broken but he needs some anti-inflammatory tablets and we will check on him in the morning. But for sure tomorrow he will not test. It makes no sense for him to try and ride. He was testing a new rear tyre and he did one lap and on the first flying lap he lost the rear in the third corner. It was a big high-side. These things can happen.”

Before he crashed, Stoner had topped the timesheets, but by the end of the day he had slipped to eighth with a host of riders throwing in qualifying tyres late in the afternoon to post their best times.

Stoner’s next track appearance will be on January 22 in Sepang when the seven-week winter testing ban ends.